Chapter 50
‘That can’t be…’
Roze shook her head in disbelief, her face suddenly flushing with heat. Just then, the merchant’s voice chimed in again.
“In that case, how about gifting this cute young lady a puppy?”
“…Hmm.”
Heivan glanced at the merchant, then looked down at Plita. She was holding the white puppy in her arms, eyes darting around nervously. After a moment, she gently set the puppy down and murmured,
“I don’t really need a dog…”
“A dog isn’t just a thing, Plita.”
Heivan’s low voice reached the child. Even after placing the puppy on the ground, she couldn’t let go and kept petting its tiny frame. Then she looked up at him.
“It’s a life. And that’s never something to be taken lightly.”
“…”
“It means you’re taking responsibility for someone’s life—even if it’s just an animal. Can you do that?”
Heivan looked at Plita seriously. Roze, who had been watching with flushed cheeks, smiled softly.
He didn’t say the puppy wasn’t suitable because it was a mixed breed. Nor did he readily agree to buy it without thought. Instead, he was teaching the child the weight of life.
As a father.
To his young daughter.
“You’ll have to become that little one’s family and friend. It’s not just something to play with when you’re bored. You’ll be responsible for its daily life, and you’ll need to care for it when it’s sick…”
Roze’s smile slowly faded as Heivan spoke.
He continued, unaware of her changing expression.
“And since dogs live shorter lives than humans, it also means you’ll have to be there for its death. If you’re prepared for that, I’ll buy it for you.”
Tears welled in her eyes. Roze quickly bowed her head, unable to keep watching the two. Droplets began to fall to the ground.
Then she heard Plita speak, after thinking carefully.
“I’ll do it.”
“Do you mean it?”
“Yes. I’ll take care of Hayang.”
Roze shut her eyes tight, and when she opened them again, a single tear fell. She raised her head as if nothing had happened and looked at Plita.
The child clutched the puppy tightly in her arms, lips pressed together with determination as she gazed up at her father. Roze’s eyes shifted to Heivan next. He, too, was looking at his daughter with solemn eyes.
How much time had passed like that?
Then Heivan gave a small chuckle and nodded.
“Alright. Let’s buy it.”
“Yay!”
The moment he agreed, Plita rubbed her cheek against the puppy’s soft fur with joy. Heivan watched with a faint smile and completed the purchase with the merchant.
The merchant, glancing between the man and the girl, burst out laughing.
“I thought you were just a handsome man, but you’re amazing! You’re even teaching your daughter properly. Your wife must be a lucky woman.”
The joke made Roze blush and laugh awkwardly. She couldn’t think of a proper reply. She couldn’t say yes, nor could she say no.
“Hayang, let’s go home now!”
Plita shouted excitedly as she hugged the puppy tightly. Then she suddenly turned to Roze as if something occurred to her.
“But um… I mean, Roze.”
Approaching Roze, Plita almost called her “Mom” but changed the word, her expression tinged with regret. Still, she pushed that emotion aside and asked what was on her mind.
“Do you think the nanny won’t like Hayang?”
“Ah…”
Only then did Roze remember the nanny. She didn’t even need to imagine the reaction—it played vividly in her mind. The nanny, who often commented on Plita’s “lowly blood,” might say something cruel about the puppy’s mixed breed and end up hurting the child.
As both Roze and Plita wore clouded expressions, Heivan—who had just returned—spoke in an indifferent tone.
“No servant has the right to object to the dog my daughter wants to raise.”
“…What?”
“Plita, you are my daughter. The one and only daughter of Heivan Guenters.”
He spoke firmly, directing his words to Plita. She looked up at him, puppy still in her arms, her eyes wide and trembling. Though he only stated the obvious, the child’s lips pressed tight, as if she were overwhelmed.
“Whether you raise a dog or do anything else—that’s for you to decide. No one has the right to interfere. And they shouldn’t be allowed to. Understand?”
“…Y-yes.”
Plita answered in a small voice and then buried her nose into the puppy’s head. Both Heivan and Roze noticed how red her face and ears had turned.
Heivan gently patted her head and began to walk ahead. Plita, surprised, reached up with one hand to touch where he had stroked her, as if trying to feel the lingering warmth.
As if wanting to feel her father’s touch once more.
“Woof!”
Just then, the puppy wriggled free and fell to the ground.
“Ah! Hayang!”
Even a small dog was too much for a child’s short arms to carry—especially with just one arm. As the puppy bolted forward, ignoring her calls, Plita ran after it.
“Hayang! Stop!”
And just as Heivan and Roze moved to stop her, a boy walking ahead tripped and fell in front of Plita.
“My lady!”
“Plita!”
Both Roze and Heivan shouted in alarm. Plita, chasing the puppy, stumbled into the boy and landed on her bottom. But instead of crying, she crawled over to the boy.
“A-are you okay?”
Her eyes widened. The boy didn’t look well at all.
He appeared to be seven or eight years older than Plita, yet he was shaking and gasping on the ground, unable to get up.
She reached a hand toward him but recoiled in shock. Before she could say anything, Heivan swept her up in his arms.
“D-Dad?”
“Are you hurt? Why did you run off like that? What if you had gotten lost?”
His voice was sharper than usual, shaken with genuine concern. Plita blinked in surprise, and soon her light green eyes filled with tears. Just then, Roze stepped in.
“Please don’t scold her too harshly, Your Grace. She didn’t mean to…”
“Even small mistakes can lead to lifelong regrets.”
Heivan remained stern, but then a groan escaped the boy’s lips.
“Ugh…”
“Oh! Are you alright?”
Only now did Roze remember the boy and turn to him. Heivan’s gaze followed.
“He has a high fever, Your Grace. I think he’s barely conscious…”
Roze placed a hand on the boy’s forehead and gasped, then turned to Heivan. He furrowed his brows, lowered Plita, and approached the boy.
The puppy, who had run off earlier, was now circling back, wagging its tail cluelessly around its young owner.
“…Tsk, I see.”
Heivan knelt and checked the boy’s condition carefully. The boy’s state had been overlooked in the panic when Plita had fallen, and guilt crept into Heivan’s expression.
“He’s really sick… His forehead was super hot, Roze.”
Plita, now teary-eyed, approached with the puppy in her arms and crouched between Heivan and Roze, reaching out toward the boy.
“Mister, can you hear me? Please wake up.”
Just as she struggled to help him up, the boy suddenly groaned and began to cough violently.
“Cough! Cough!”
“This won’t do. I’ll carry him. …Sir Fedwin.”
Heivan grimaced and lifted the boy onto his back. Looking around, he called out for his escort knight. From nearby—unnoticed until now—Fedwin stepped forward.
Roze and Plita widened their eyes in surprise at his sudden appearance. But Fedwin bowed calmly to Heivan.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Find out if there’s a healer nearby. We need to get this boy treated.”
At the command, Fedwin quickly turned and took off.
“So from here, we go left…”
Fedwin guided them toward the healer’s house. The boy was now being carried by another knight accompanying them for protection.
Heivan, Roze, and Plita followed close behind.
‘No way…’
Roze felt her mouth go dry. Her expression stiffened.
‘It can’t be… It just can’t.’
The street looked familiar. Too familiar.
She had come here yesterday. To visit a healer.
Still, she clung to the hope that it wouldn’t be the same place. Coincidences didn’t happen this precisely, did they?
But the unease on her face only deepened.
“Ah! That must be the place.”
Fedwin, who had been unsure, now pointed confidently at a house.
Roze’s face fell.
It was the same healer’s house she had visited yesterday.
‘Of all places…’
Granted, there probably weren’t that many healers in the territory. It made sense, logically.
But still—of all places, why this one?
Roze swallowed her words, trying to calm her nerves. Completely unaware of her worry, Fedwin stepped forward and knocked on the door.
